Solo Travel Adventure Number 1!: Vietnam

Taken whilst having a cold drink in a corner café: this gives a fair idea of the 'ambience' of Old Town Hanoi - all that is missing are the overloaded motorbikes!

Back to Hanoi
Now the capital of the whole of Vietnam, this is a bustling city with the typical narrow streeted Old Town area in which we are lodging. These pictures try to give an idea of the loads which are carried by people and by bicycles!

Shop girl sits directly in front of the fan!

Delicious baguettes for sale on a street corner

bread for sale on the dual carriageway!

A fairly common sight - unfinished bridge / road ....

Rice drying on the side of the road - sometimes right out into the street
where it cannot be avoided at times of high traffic!

red flags everywhere.

Hue to Hanoi
The train required for this leg of the trip is an overnight one with various ticket options - the 'soft sleeper' sounded the best having only 4 beds in each cabin AND air conditioning! Boarding at 5.15pm we were assured by the elderly man already ensconced in our cabin, that the fourth bed had been vacated: after storing our luggage on this bunk we discovered that this was not actually the case! A very irate and loud young lady appeared and screeched something unintelligible at me - presumably she was not happy that my backpack was on her bed. Woops! Oh well, she retaliated by playing marching and shouting games with all the children in the carriage, right outside our door, so I am sure she felt better by the time it was dark! The night passed relatively comfortably and as I was on the top bunk at least I was closest to the air conditioning: the gentle rumbling of the train soon lulled me to sleep and the less gentle and frequent lurching over points soon woke me up again ... and so the night passed in this repeating cycle! Arriving at Hanoi at 5.45am I spotted a coffee shop and headed determinedly across already busy streets to find some respite from the already high temperatures. After an hour of pretending to like tea, we left to walk the 1.5km to the offices of our Cruise company: yes we were going on a cruise in Halong Bay a renowned UNESCO site. Four hours by coach and we were in the crowded port waiting to board our vessel - which one would it be? Excitement levels rose as we spotted some luxury vessels and some ...er ... less luxurious ones! Ours turned out to be a beautiful old wooden Junk with just 8 en-suite cabins and the most attentive staff you could hope for. The following 24 hours were spent lazily weaving in and out of the huge limestone rock structures for which this area is famous: we visited some large caves and were then dropped off on a private island for the night. The 20 cabins were basic, but the setting was idyllic and we spent a wonderful afternoon kayaking around the various islands, searching for and finding some beautiful deserted coves where the shallow water was as warm as a bath and the jungle sounds surrounded us. Bliss! The following day we were picked up by boat and returned to the shore after a 'cookery lesson' on board - well as lesson on how to combine ingredients to make a spring roll really. I spent the return coach journey chatting to some more of the young people with whom we had spent the previous 48 hours and I must say that I very much enjoyed hearing their travel stories although most of them seem to be in a heck of a rush to do and see ALL of S-E Asia in a very limited time. It has made me appreciate even more, the wonderful experiences that I have had in the last 9 months.

Our beautiful Junk

Ladies rowed out to try to sell us all manner of food

Our chef was extremely creative with his vegetables!

At the Pearl Farm

Forcing the oyster open, an incision is made in its mouth before
grit is inserted - the result a few years later is a pearl.

A larger Junk in full sail.

Lots of kayaking space available here!

One of the floating houses complete with fish pools

Second night spent in a bungalow - beautiful!

View from the room shows the sort of scenery around
which we kayaked - for three hours!

On to Hue

The journey here was quite an adventure despite having chosen one of the more modern trains. We were in 'air-conditioned soft seats' but the train was full and as its entire route takes nearly 24 hours, there were several people sleeping on the floor. We were only doing a couple of hours, so were able to relax and read when not watching the beautiful scenery drift by: this section of the track passes along cliff edges, through mountain tunnels and gives views of golden beaches as well as steep slopes covered in lush vegetation. Hue is the 10^th largest city, but doesn't feel crowded or too manic and once again the guest house is wonderful. We were greeted with cold towels, fresh fruit and cold fresh fruit juice – smiles and excellent English helped us to feel really welcome from the first moment. Our particular street is full of shoe shops – with amazing colours and styles available from brightly lit windows – Felicity you would be in paradise! Staying four days here has meant that we could explore – the Forbidden Purple City (quaintly, but as yet inexplicably named and close to the Perfume River), the old town, the Royal Tombs and the popular pagoda. Having been approached by a young couple to lift-share we have done so quite cheaply too although I'm sure that our rickshaw pedallers saw 'tourists' coming a mile off and charged accordingly! Hue was the capital of Vietnam for nearly 150 years until 1945 when the last Emperor handed over the symbols of power to the Communist Party, and the lavish lifestyle of the Emperors can be imagined when reading all the information available in the Citadel – 100 wives, concubines, eunuchs, meals of fifty courses eaten alone, elephants and ornate palanquins used to carry the Mandarins and Royals. The city is also unfortunately placed - close to the North-South border - and thus suffered badly during the 'reunification process' with alternate occupations by US and Viet Cong (North Vietnamese) forces in the late 1960s. Since 1975 the country has of course been unified under Communism and accounts of what atrocities may or may not have happened here are contradictory.

View from the train

Vietnam is beautiful

It is not unusual to see fields of graves.

Around the Citadel - Emperor's palace

Around the Citadel

Around the palace

Historically keen on Bonsai!

Many walls here bare the marks of bullets fired in war.

Lotus flower pools everywhere

Mandarins, elephants and horses accompany the Emperor after death

Life sized statue of one Emperor sits
atop his tomb

a sombre tomb

Part of one Emperor's tomb

Thein Mu Pagoda - nice change after lots of tombs!

A few days in Hoi An

Our homestay does not have a dining room so breakfast had to be served on the balcony ... shame!
Weather continues to be hot and so it was decided that there would be more breeze on a bike and as it is almost completely flat here, that was definitely the way forward. It was lovely to get a little off the beaten track and despite having no gears, the cycling was pretty easy so, full of confidence, the decision has been made to cycle to the beach to watch the sunrise tomorrow! Watch this space - me, a bike, 4am ?? What do you reckon?

Well we did it! Up at out by 4.45am, cycle ride to the beach, mainly in the dark, and a glorious sunrise which made it well worth the effort. The rest of the daylight hours had to be passed on a lounger at the beach to help with recovery and then a river cruise dinner for the last night in Hoi An ... complete with floating lanterns!

Sun rise ... for a change!

Floating lanterns pass majestically and head off down the river

Yes we did cycle! About 20km altogether.

One of the hard working women who captain small taxi-skiffs on the river.

Hoi An by night - very picturesque indeed!

Hoi An
A world away from the hustle and bustle of the city, this historic market town lies on a beautiful river, not far from the ocean. The heat continues with daytime temperatures between 34 and 38, but so far there have been no thunderstorms here, however, I am sure they will be along in the next few days! Several happy hours have been passed wandering slowly along the riverside paths and visiting old bridges, temples and assembly rooms as well as more modern cafes. There is a distinct French flavour to the architecture here with sepia coloured buildings, narrow alleys and tree lined avenues - combine that with palm trees and blue skies and you can imagine the picture-postcard town which is Hoi An. The people are a bit of a mixture, and quite different from the city folk: here, many locals vigorously try to sell you something - a massage, a boat ride or a meal. The worst case was a stall holder who gripped my arm, insisted on a photo begin taken and then demanded (literally with vice like fingers dug into my arms) money: not a pleasant experience and a real shock after Indonesia, where the locals shyly asked for photos with us, probably because Dave is over 6ft tall and I am 'blond' (well sort of) and we made an unusual sight there. Anyway, we are learning not to speak English and thereby not engage in conversation and this works very well.

Full moon - traditional time for a party!

Narrow alleyways

French feeling

Traditional hat or crash helmet?

No wonder that the elderly ladies often have
spines which are bent double.

Pavement side cafes and market stalls

Sat at this corner café for ages watching the world pass
and tourists cross the covered bridge.

When looking for a toilet, I found this secret Japanese garden!

A hidden gem - Japanese garden on the way to the WC!

Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

Over the last few days I have learnt a lot: admittedly I have had a slightly biased teacher, but I do feel that I know a great deal more about the events in Vietnam 1945-1973. By visiting the tunnels (below) and the War Remnants Museum (a no-holds barred exhibition detailing the horrors of war and the effects of Asian Orange and napalm), I have been able to read first hand accounts and seen journalists' pictures of the wars which were acted out here. I still do not feel that I can start to form a judgement however, as I have not spent an afternoon wandering around a museum dedicated to the American side of the story. Anyway, this country is defined by more than those events and so here are some pictures:

I did take picture inside the museum but I realised afterwards,
only of quotations .

The jungle today

Entrance to a tunnels - usually about 40cm x 40cm

The Viet Cong were master trap makers

False termite hills - air conduits and dumps for excavated earth

A door-trap - the enemy does not knock before entering.

Crawling through a typical tunnel

Co Chi Tunnels
According to our Guide today, Vietnam has been subject to 1000 years of Chinese influence, 100 years of French influence, 4 years of Japanese influence and more recently the infamous American 'influence'. Today we visited part of the 250km of tunnels dug by hand by the villagers of this region during the conflicts: they enabled the night surprise attacks for which the Viet Cong were renowned. Farmers by day and guerrillas by night - men, women and children.

" The seeds of the Vietnam War lay in the 1954 division of the region into two countries. South Vietnam was ruled by a democratic government, while the communist Viet Cong -- led by Ho Chi Minh -- ruled the North. The existing tension between the two factions was further exacerbated by the Cold War between the US and the USSR. The US was an outspoken proponent of democracy, while the USSR was communistic and actively assisted other communistic countries, most notably Cuba.

Viet Cong-backed Insurgency in the South had begun in 1954, but the Viet Cong officially increased their support in the 1960s, following the overthrow and assassination of the democratic leader Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963. The US intervention in 1965 tilted the scales the South's favor, but the Southern forces alone were never a match for the disciplined, well-funded and excellently coordinated Northern army. Soon after the withdrawal of the US, the North secured victory by laying siege to Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, and forcing the Southern President Duong van Minh to hand over the city."
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-of-the-vietnam-war.html

It has left me wanting to do some more research and more than a little disheartened that many of our tour group wanted to take selfies on the American tank, but no one repeated this action by the tunnel entrances. The majority also paid extra to fire an AK47 or Kalashnikov assault rifles ... and so the forest continues to be filled with the sounds of aggression .... thought provoking.

Facts from Mr Google:

The Vietnam War is one of the longest military engagements in recent history. The conflict raged on for nearly 20 years, November 1, 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

About 58,200 Americans were killed during the war and roughly 304,000 wounded, out of the more than 2.5 million who served in the war. This translates to about one casualty per ten men!

The average age of the Americans that were killed was 23.11 years; 11,465 were less than the age of 20!
Civilians on either side were not spared -- close to 5 million civilians were killed, the Southern population suffering more than the North. Civilians from surrounding countries such as Cambodia and Laos were also killed in the thousands.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans serving in the war were volunteers.

Almost 2 million South Vietnamese have relocated to the United States, Canada, France and Australia since the Fall of Saigon.

The US spent $111 billion on the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1975.

The average American soldier in Vietnam fought for 240 days in a year!

Up to 500,000 children were congenitally or otherwise affected by Agent Orange, a herbicide sprayed over the Vietnamese forests by the US to minimize the threat from Vietnamese hit-and-run squads.

ENOUGH!

Saigon
An early start (4am) and so we arrived by 9.30am and taken to the wrong accommodation initially, but this was soon sorted out and The New Saigon Hostel welcomed us warmly. An afternoon walk took us to the Notre Dame cathedral and the Old Post Office ending up at Bitexco tower with its skydeck. From here we watched the rain sweep across the city and then retreated to a restaurant for an evening meal, whilst the rain continued its efforts to drown everything! It is definitely the Wet Season here!